Round 1:
Referee is Jacob Montalvo. Nelson rolling towards Cormier, with his braid swinging. Half a minute passes before either throws anything, but neither lands. But now Cormier lifts Nelson's right leg up high and spins him around and gets him down. He has him in a cradle, and starts dropping short punches. Nelson able to standup in a crouch on the fence, but Cormier leverages him back down. Repeat. Nelson back up, and Cormier fishing out a leg trying to put Nelson back down. Nelson momentarily went for an arm to torque, and that moved things to the other side of the cage as Cormier had to surrender his position. Now they are clinched on fence, and Cormier throwing short uppercuts. Nelson doing the same, and snuck one through. Hold up...looks like Nelson took a knee to the groin, so the referee steps in. Nelson taking his time here. They touch gloves, and we're back at it. Head kick by Cormier gets mostly Nelson's arms. Nelson holding the center of the cage, and he comes over top with a right that narrowly misses Cormier. That's the equalizer he threw, and it was close. Cormier comes in and drops a left hand on Nelson's chin, with some follow-up music. Nelson shakes it off.

Round 2:
Cormier changing levels a little bit. Nelson really trying to hammer him with that right, but so far can't do it flush. Cormier playing smart and wheeling away from it. Another combo by Cormier, but this time he doesn't land anything too clean. Cormier comes lunging forward with another combination, and that time he rocked Nelson good with a couple of shots, ending up on the fence. Nelson leans back and recovers. Cormier grabs a single leg and trips Nelson down, but Nelson -- like rubber -- bounces right back up. They go to the fence, and Cormier leans his hulk into Nelson. All the offense belongs to Cormier here. Short uppercut, and right back into mashing Nelson along the fence. Cormier just a step faster. Throws a combination there and Nelson eats most of what was coming. It's already to that point where Nelson's chin stands out. Nelson surprised Cormier there with a big leg kick that really sort of wobbled Cormier. But he moves forward the same as the round ends with another combo.

Round 3:
Nelson needs some urgency here. He stands his ground in the middle, and is throwing punches to Cormier's body. Cormier answers with a fake jab to leg kick. The threat of the takedown keeps hindering Nelson's approach when he moves forward. That bit of hesitation takes away the right bomb he wants to connect with. Cormier, on the other hand, doing well when he does rush forward throwing hands. He does it again here and connects with Nelson's chin. Nelson working the left jab. Cormier bursts forward and tackles Nelson to the ground, but they come right back up. Cormier goes low with a kick, and then high. Nothing big there. Nelson now taunting Cormier. Nelson comes forward with a bi uppercut, but doesn't land it. Cormier riding this out. He just moves forward and drops several shots on Nelson late. Nelson does land a good punch towards the end, but it's academic at this point.